New Zealand Wars (1840s–1870s)

Where can I find information about the New Zealand Wars?

(Years 5-8)

Black and white illustration of armed, uniformed government forces shooting at Te Ngutu o te Manu, near Kaponga. — Image: Attack on Te Ngutu-o-te-manu, 7 September 1868 from Archives New Zealand on DigitalNZ. CC BY 2.0. Image cropped.

Entry last updated: 21/09/26

Introduction

The New Zealand Wars | Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa happened between the 1840s and 1970s. They were fought between Māori and government forces. These forces included British and colonial forces as well as kūpapa (Māori who fought on the side of the British).

Here is when and where the major New Zealand Wars took place:

The Wairau Affray (1843)
The Northern War (1845–1846)
War in Wellington and Whanganui (1845–1847)
War in Taranaki (1860–1861 and 1864–1866)
War in the Waikato (1863–1865)
War in Tauranga (1864)
The East Coast Wars (1865–1866)
The story of Tītokowaru (1868–1869)
The story of Te Kooti (1868–1872)

General websites

These New Zealand websites are the best place to find reliable information on the New Zealand Wars.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about Aotearoa New Zealand. If we look down to the bottom of the page, we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage. The information is well-researched and reliable.

Go to Stories A-Z.
Choose the letter N.
Select New Zealand wars.
In addition to a chapter on each war, you will find some information on the long-term impact of the wars, as well as some external links and other sources.

Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more.

NZ History

NZ History is a great website for information about Aotearoa New Zealand. It is also from the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Go to the section on New Zealand at War from the home page.
Look for the heading New Zealand's internal wars. This has links to the regional wars and other important conflicts and movements relating to the New Zealand Wars. For example, The Wairau incident, War in Waikato and The Northern War.

Tips: A website’s address (URL) can give you a hint about how reliable it is. Look for addresses in the results that include .govt or .edu in the URL. These are quality sites from government or educational organisations.

New Zealand Wars

This website belongs to Danny Keenan, a Māori writer and historian (expert in history). It offers a Māori view on the wars fought between Māori and the Crown.

Explore links such as Timelines, Causes, Consequences, NZ Wars Maps to understand more about the wars.
The link Wars Without End explains how the impact of the New Zealand Wars on Māori is still felt today.

Tips: Company websites (with .com or .co) can have useful info, but we need to check how reliable it is. At the top of this website page it tells you why this info has been written. Also check Danny Keenan's Published Works to find a link to Writing this site. It is about the author and what went into writing the info.

DigitalNZ

This search site focuses on New Zealand history, culture and society. It brings together results from lots of different reliable websites all at once.

Enter 'War in Taranaki' into the search box, or any of the other names from the list of wars above.
The results are grouped by type of information, like images, videos, newspapers, articles and research papers.
Select Videos to watch The wars of Waitara — Roadside Stories.
This video is about the land ownership dispute that led to the first Taranaki War between Māori and the government.

Tips: Websites with .org or .net in the address can have useful info, but you need to check that it’s reliable. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

This website is part of Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. It has over 3,000 biographies of New Zealanders, including Māori and Pākehā leaders of the New Zealand Wars.

Enter the names of Māori leaders of the New Zealand Wars into the search bar eg Te Kooti, Riwha Tītokowaru, Rewi Maniopoto and Rua Kēnana.
Search for Pākehā leaders eg George Whitmore, Thomas McDonnell, Duncan Cameron and Gustavus von Tempsky.

Tips: DNZB belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable. Keep in mind that DNZB does not include info on people who are still alive.

The Aotearoa History Show

The Aotearoa History Show is a video series made by Radio New Zealand (RNZ). It tells the story of Aotearoa New Zealand from when the land was formed to today.

Go to Season 1.
Check out the episodes for both New Zealand Wars (Part 1) and New Zealand Wars (Part 2).
You can select Episode details to see which topics are covered.